Ongoing Matters

SCO Group v. Novell Ongoing since June 2003
We represent Novell in litigation filed by The SCO Group. SCO claims that it owns the copyrights to the UNIX operating system, and that all distributors and end users of the increasingly popular LINUX operating system are infringing these copyrights. These claims strike at the heart of the important “open source” movement. Not long after SCO sued IBM for copyright infringement in March 2003, Novell publicly challenged SCO’s claims, insisting that Novell retained the UNIX copyrights as part of its 1995 deal to sell certain UNIX assets to SCO. In response, SCO brought a “slander of title” action against Novell. Since then, the parties have filed additional claims and counterclaims against each other. Portions of these claims are currently stayed pending the resolution of a separate arbitration filed by a Novell subsidiary before the ICC. The case has been widely reported and remains the subject of close scrutiny by the open source community.

Yahoo! Inc. Ongoing since April 1998
Represent Yahoo! on cutting-edge online copyright law issues.

2004

Qwest Communications September 2004
Represented Qwest on copyright and other IP issues in connection with its high-profile sale of its telephone directory business.

Hertz Corporation September 2004
Counsel Hertz on copyright and other IP issues in connection with its website.

Chamberlain v. Skylink (Fed. Cir. 2004)(Computer & Communications Industry Ass'n) August 2004
Prepared a brief for The Computer & Communications Association in a case involving alleged violations of the anti-trafficking provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Hitachi Ltd. July 2004
Represented Hitachi on copyright and other IP issues in connection with acquisition of IBM's hard drive business.

2003

Oracle Corporation August 2003
Handle copyright registrations for Oracle, among other clients.

Rossi v. Motion Picture Ass'n (9th Cir. 2003)(NetCoalition) June 2003
Prepared a brief for NetCoalition in connection with a case involving enforcement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Baystate v. Bowers (Sup. Ct. 2002)(American Library Ass'n) June 2003
Prepared a brief for the American Library Association in a case involving the reverse engineering of a software program.

Thomson Financial February 2003
Advised Thomson Financial on recently-announced billion-dollar data outsourcing deal with Merrill Lynch.

Eldred v. Ashcroft , 537 U.S. 186 (2003) January 2003
Prepared brief for ASCAP, BMI, and other associations of music publishers case regarding the constitutionality of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998.

2002

Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox (Sup. Ct. 2003)(American Library Association) August 2002
Prepared a brief for the American Library Association in a case involving the unaccredited copying of an uncopyrighted work.

Collecting Society VG Wort v. Fujitsu Siemens Computers July 2002
Represent the defendant in a claim for copyright levies on PCs.

Sprint Spectrum April 2002
Advise Sprint Spectrum on copyright issues in connection with its "3G" wireless network.

2001

Sonic Solutions v. Spruce Technologies, Inc., U.S.D.C. (N.D. Cal.) December 2001
Represented the defendant in a copyright infringement, trade secret and disparagement action.